Behaviour of a Timber-Concrete Composite Beam with Glued Connection at Strength Limit State

The paper reports the results of a collapse test performed on a 6 m span timber-concrete composite beam with glued re-bar connection. The beam was first ramp loaded to failure, then some push-out tests were performed on specimens cut from the end of the beam in order to fully characterise the connection. During the tests all relevant quantities such as deflections, slips and strains were monitored. The experimental results are compared with those carried out using a FE numerical software and the analytical procedure proposed by Ceccotti according to the Eurocode 5 (EC5). An overall good correspondence was found, as long as realistic properties of the connection such as those obtained through push-out tests are used. Conversely the approximate formulas suggested by the EC5 for evaluating the connection properties are too conservative. Their use may lead to too stiff and strong connections, with possible undesirable brittle failure of the whole composite beam.